Working on this lesson plan was a rewarding experience for both of us. After reading Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns we knew it was a novel that needs to be taught in high school classrooms. The novel is a beautiful and complex text that undertakes many social justice issues that are still present in the world today. Essentially, it is a novel that could be used to teach our students how to approach the world through a critical lens while providing them with an appreciation and understanding for other cultures. Indeed, although the novel takes place in Afghanistan, many of the themes covered within the novel are still directly applicable to students in North America. However, while the fact that this novel tackles so many complex ideas and issues is one of its greatest achievements it also provides the greatest challenge for teaching this topic in a high school classroom. The complexity of this novel means that discussing many of the topics it deals with in the span of 75 minutes is quite difficult as often it seemed that more than a few 75 minute lessons were needed to broach a topic. Understanding, however, that time limits must be met we approached this challenge by weaving many of the themes and issues through multiple lessons and mediums. For instance, gender inequality, although not directly discussed in every topic, is nonetheless a theme that works as a subtext for many of our lessons. Hence, in spite of our time constraints we managed to delve into many of the themes that the novel undertakes by creating integrative lesson plans.
Our next greatest challenge was attempting to move away from lessons that were completely discussion based and incorporating other methods of communication and application. As our academic background was heavily based on discussion as the primary method of application and communication within the classroom, we found that we both tended towards lessons that were based around discussion. Although I think this approach has many benefits as it allows students to develop oral commutation skills based around critical thinking, a skill that is necessary in many career fields, it is also crucial to encourage other methods of communication within the classroom. Hence, we spent a fair amount of time brainstorming creative methods that could be used within the classroom, for instance creating projects such as the film trailers, as well as four corner activities, simulations, group work, audio books and ample time for individual thinking and writing.
Overall, creating this unit plan from scratch was a truly rewarding experience. In fact, we are both slightly disappointed that we may not be able to use this unit plan in a classroom in the known and near future, especially as this novel touches upon many social justice issues that are close to both our hearts, but we do look forward to the day when we will have the opportunity to approach these subjects with future students.
In conclusion, this was a wonderful learning experience, and one that we both grew from. We developed many skills and techniques for developing creative and interesting lessons that teach students the skills that they need to succeed after high school. As well, we enjoyed working with one another and found that by working collaboratively we were able to improve upon each others' ideas and plans, meaning this project has encouraged us to appreciate the value of creating a collaborative and positive working environment.
Our next greatest challenge was attempting to move away from lessons that were completely discussion based and incorporating other methods of communication and application. As our academic background was heavily based on discussion as the primary method of application and communication within the classroom, we found that we both tended towards lessons that were based around discussion. Although I think this approach has many benefits as it allows students to develop oral commutation skills based around critical thinking, a skill that is necessary in many career fields, it is also crucial to encourage other methods of communication within the classroom. Hence, we spent a fair amount of time brainstorming creative methods that could be used within the classroom, for instance creating projects such as the film trailers, as well as four corner activities, simulations, group work, audio books and ample time for individual thinking and writing.
Overall, creating this unit plan from scratch was a truly rewarding experience. In fact, we are both slightly disappointed that we may not be able to use this unit plan in a classroom in the known and near future, especially as this novel touches upon many social justice issues that are close to both our hearts, but we do look forward to the day when we will have the opportunity to approach these subjects with future students.
In conclusion, this was a wonderful learning experience, and one that we both grew from. We developed many skills and techniques for developing creative and interesting lessons that teach students the skills that they need to succeed after high school. As well, we enjoyed working with one another and found that by working collaboratively we were able to improve upon each others' ideas and plans, meaning this project has encouraged us to appreciate the value of creating a collaborative and positive working environment.